Mid-term exam

Sharing knowledge from an English for Academic Purposes class

Broadly speaking, academic writing is a skill that enables students to grow academically.  Narrowing the scope of this definition to the field of English teaching, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) define English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as the teaching of English for Study Purposes, (cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010).  It is within this view that English instruction splits into English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP).  Furthermore, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) present both concepts as quite dissimilar.  According to them, EGAP relates to the language study skills common to all disciplines, in the frame of education.  ESAP, instead, concerns to specific subject areas, as part of training to develop skills.

Consequently, EGAP will furnish students with a fundamental ability to grow professionally.  As Pintos and Crimi (2010) pointed out “This growth naturally depends on what professionalism and academic writing represent or mean in the circle and in the community at large…”  Being a professional implies to be autonomous, provide a social service, which is based on intellectual skills that are the result of specialized training. (Banfi,1997,p.14)  Enlightened by these words, a lineal relation between academic writing and professionalism can be drawn.  The expertise in producing standard academic pieces of writing should be the tool that paves prospective professionals’ career. 

Reference

Banfi, C. (1997)  “Some thoughts on the professional development of language teachers”  ELT News & Views.

Dudley-Evans, T. and St. John, M. J. (1998)  Developments in ESP. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Pintos, V. revised with Crimi, Y. (2008).  Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers.  Retrieve October 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=6856